The Howling
by HushedxAngel
Summary: Mel's life was perfect. Sweet, little angel girl in her final years at the Angel Academy. However, when a figure from her past makes an unwelcomed visit, it will take all Mel's energy to fight against the PODs - and stay an angel.  Inspired by a WT song


**A/N:** so this is a new fic I wrote awhile back, inspired by the lyrics of "The Howling" by Within Temptation. Dark, fantasy, with an interesting twist. Hope you enjoy it! :) 

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><p>Darkness. As black as the onyx night, this was the colour that always represented evil. In it's most purest form, it could be as toxic as those vibes given off by Lucifer, the King of Darkness.<p>

Could Light correspond with Dark? There never was a really straightforward answer for that. The most logical one is no, it couldn't. If there is light in darkness, than that means it is no longer dark, but light.

And yet one question that puzzled one young angels mind, as she completed her thesis that wasn't even to do with the subject she thought of, was - is there a grey?

For light and dark mixed together equals the grey colour. It's not fully white, but it's not fully black. It's a union. It's a coexistence. It's a correspondence.

"Oh stop getting fancy with your words, Mel." The seventeen year old girl was sitting at the desk in her bedroom, mentally scolding herself for puzzling too much over philosophy. This was no time to be questioning things - she had a report due by tomorrow. If she failed this, it counted a lot towards her final grades and exams. If she wanted to continue her career as a time agent when she finally graduated, she needed to get top marks, which was something she hadn't really tried accomplishing down on Earth.

Melanie Beeby sighed and threw her pen down in frustration. She rubbed her eyes and rested her face in the palm of her hand. It was exhausting work, slaving over school essays in the middle of the night. Even though she was an angel trainee who had more energy than any human could imagine, being an earth angel meant she burned out a lot more easier than the angels born in Heaven.

In fact, in her mind, she wouldn't really be so undisguised if it wasn't for this essay. If she was out having fun at the Babylon Cafe (which also doubled as a trance playing nightclub and round the clock rave), especially with her mates Lola and Reuben, than this wouldn't be an issue. Just as it had always been since childhood, school work exhausted her. Fun never did.

Turning on her iPhone, she quickly sent a text to Lola, explaining how she wouldn't be able to come out tonight due to her school work. Within five minutes, she got a reply.

_Aww that sucks, Boo. Hopefully I'll catch you later. Luv L xoxoxo_ it read, even ending with a little love heart Emoji icon.

Mel smiled to herself. Grabbing the water bottle from her bedside cabinet, she texted Reuben to let him know, and drank water at the same time. _Multitasking, got to love it _she thought in her head.

She looked down at the half written essay, lying there on her desk. The pen was situated to the right of it, rolled over the top corner of the page, as if in its inanimate object way, asking her to come back to write.

"Oh fuck that," she sneered at it out a loud, and walked over to the only window she had in her small cupboard like dorm room.

There was an absolutely beautiful view from her side of the Angel Academy. A dark cityscape in front of her, lights of buildings shining in the dark sky. And yet that all paled in comparison to the wondrous Agency, an ever changing colour Heavenly building that was a skyscraper with the top disappearing into the uppermost clouds.

From every colour of the rainbow, and even some that have never been seen by the human eye, it was a constant reminder to Mel how vibey and celestial the city of Heaven was.

But the biggest reminder of them all was the flashes of light from the Agency building, only a heartbeat apart, as if like beautiful white fireworks going off on a twenty four hour basis. Except these weren't fireworks - they were angels, both guardian angels (or time agents as they were officially known in the business) and warriors of the cosmos, being teleported to all imaginable ends of the space and time thresholds. Dimensions not known to man, but by angels, would be constantly visited to protect both it and some lost souls from the clutches of the Opposition, also known as the Powers of Darkness, or PODs as they are 'affectionally' known by Mel and her best friends.

This beautiful reminder of her existance was what kept her happy. Knowing that her destiny, even if it meant dying as a thirteen year old on Earth, was to be one of those angels. A warrior who fought the demons from the Opposition to save at least one human life from their clutches, so that they would 'wake up' and realise their true potential. The Opposition liked to keep the humans they had in some type of sleep - a zombie like trance, if you will.

But the angels job was to reverse all that, bring them from the Darkness and into the light, and give them hope for a better future in both their life and for Earth.

In the middle of all Mel's thoughts and daydreams, suddenly alarm bells rang off inside her mind. Either it was her angelic radar, Helix (her inner angel) being the vigilant on the job type that she was, or a premonition - but it didn't really matter, because whatever it was that made Mel so alert, it was bad, and it was going to happen soon.

It was as if the world around her seem to quiet down. The low chatter of the night owl angels outside of her dorm room door just disappeared, leaving an empty void of silence. The sounds from outside, the usual city hustle and bustle, was barely a whisper in Mel's ear. What was going wrong?

"Helix?" Mel's quavering voice inside her mind questioned the inner angel. "I'm a little freaked out right now."

But what she got was no reply. Even her inner angel, her soul supporter in the most horrific and mellow moments, had gone offline.

Now Mel was really starting to panic. She looked around her. Yes, she was still in her dorm room. Yes, the scenery outside the window was the city. Oh wait...

"Holy shit!" she exclaimed, pressing her face deeply against the pane of glass. There was no city at all. It was just pitch blackness - it was as if Heaven had just melted away from her, dissipated from the outside, leaving her floating around aimlessly in some type of cosmic rift.

Mel's loud heartbeat seemed to ring loudly in her ears; also because it was the only sound apart from her own voice and breathing that she could even hear. It had gone from a steady thump, thump, thump, to a quicker pace, As if Mel had just run an extremely long marathon. Her breathing had also grown much sharper and quicker.

"Okay, it's okay. It's completely fine. You're still here in your dorm room, doesn't that account for anything?" Her feeble attempts at consoling herself only worked a little. She was trying very hard not to launch into full on panic mode, which Mel was quite notorious for.

Suddenly, there was actual noise, and it wasn't from her. It was a scratching sound outside her door. It sounded like a dog was trying to paw it's way through, it's claws making little scritch, scritch noises on the wood.

Mel gasped and let out a teeny whimper, backing up against the window. She had not noticed the flames, which looked incredibly hot but in reality were more just FX, which licked against the glass, trying to get to her and suck her into the black void behind her. "Plan A of not being scared didn't work," she whispered to herself, her eyes widening with fear at the orange glow that seeped underneath the crack of the door. "Time to launch right into Plan B as I wanted to all along - freak the fuck out."

The doorknob rattled, and Mel let out a little frightened squeal, turning her back against it, and finally laying eyes on the flames outside her window.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Mel was practically in tears. What had happened to the beautiful Heavenly world that she had lived in? Now it had been replaced by somethbg so dark, evil, and full of POD vibes.

Mel currently felt like the twister scene in _Wizard of Oz_, like Dorothy looking out of her window to see the frightening images of reality mixing in with the characters from the mythical land. This was too unusual, to unreal. Was she dreaming?

Nope, that little pinch she gave herself proved that she was very much awake. And the doorknob was rattling even more violently. Whatever wanted in was getting sick of waiting and trying.

"Oh please universe, help me!" Mel called out, letting out a loud scream as the thing behind her door now took to bashing it open.

With a loud crack of the wood, the door broke apart into splinters, and before Mel was the most horrifying scene she could've imagined.

Before her was not the Academy hallways, as it had always been. It was now a different dimension - both dark and fiery red at the same time. The floor was covered in smoke and flames, and the sky had red, electric vibes of evil crackling above the figure in her doorway.

There was a beast with a spiked dog collar around its neck, held tightly and restrained by a very thick chain. It wasn't even a hell hound, it was something sick and unimaginable, from the depths of a horror story. It had the body of a canine, but the face of an alien monster. Three eyes all in a line, a mouth full of layers of teeth wit rivers of lime green drool dripping off them, pointed ears in a quite elven way, and paws the size of a Clydesdale's hoof. It had not four legs, but six, with extra arms coming from the side of its body, each equipped with the sharpest talons on any type of Hell beast. On its rear, other a tail that seemed to be made out of spiky fur that looked incredibly sharp to touch.

And the person controlling the beast? Holding the chain in her left hand and trying to subdue the uncontrollable, animalistic demon, was somebody with looks who seemed to stick out like a sore thumb from the place that she came from.

Of course, her clothes basically gave it away what side she was on. She had quite hooker / gothic style clothing on, with black high heels, fishnet tights, a red and black skirt that had demonic looking skulls printed all over it, a belt with looped chains all over it, a tank top that had extremely foul death metal lyrics and yes, more skull appliqués, and a studded leather bikers jacket.

Her hair was not done up, but let free, in a somewhat sweet style that didn't fit the image her clothes portrayed. It had been curled and styled to give it a natural body wave, her brunette locks falling just underneath the bottom curve of her cleavage, which was also very much on display.

Green, empty eyes glittering, she looked Mel right in the eye, an evil and ery much psychopathic smile upon her lips. "We meet again, angel girl," she spoke in a soft tone. Her voice seemed to carry almost beautifully, both hypnotising and almost sensual in nature, but still with that hint of pure demonic sadism. "May I refresh your memory on who I am?"

"There is no need to do that." Mel could barely speak, it felt like all the air inside her body had been knocked right out, replaced with the absolute sickening feeling of being in the presence with a demon. It had seemed in the past four years since they last met, the demoness had gained considerable ranking in the Opposition, making her powers stronger. For Mel, this was making her nearly want to vomit, also weakening her without her realising it. "Hello, Maia."

It was all Maia could do to not let out a laugh at the expression on Mel's face. But instead of her moment of weakness. She let out a little happy squeal, making fun of Mel's happy ways. "Aww yay, you remembered who I am! Well, seeing as introdctions have been made, I might as well tell you what just happened. I transported you to Hell, used Taekenah here to break into your dorm, and well, here we are. I think that's pretty much it."

Mel was absolutely shaking. This was not happening. This couldn't be real. Here she was, facing her one true nemesis, that seemed to almost have the powers of the Queen of Darkness.

"But wh... ho..." She could barely say the words, her tongue had been tied in absolute fear. "H-how did you manage t-to g-et me h-here?"

"It was absolutely easy," Maia smiled wickedly at Melanie. In between talking to her, she spoke an unearthly, demonic language to Taekenah (the words were making Mel's head hurt),and the dog instantly quieted down and laid down on the ground next to Mel's desk. Maia walked into the room, taking off the protective leather studded gloves from her hand, and tossing them carelessly on Mel's bed. She perched on it precariously, as if sickened by the Light vibes that lingered on it. "So you had that moment of feeling like you were in the Wizard of Oz, yeah? And don't look so shocked, Mel love, you know how I like to read your mind and play games with you. It was kind of like the same thing. I catapulted you and your surroundings into this kind of, how do I say it... cosmic tornado? The Dark vibes are just represented as your bedroom. You aren't even really here, Mel."

"I don't understand." Mel was closed to tears. She eyed Maia's hand as it flicked a piece of her from her face. There was an engagement ring, of silver band, with onyx and blood red rubies on the band. In the centre, shining in all its glory and rarity, was a red diamond. "What's that?" she asked in a quavering voice, nodding towards Maia's hand. Would small chat help with this purely horrifying for Mel situation? Possibly.

Maia brought her hand down to stare at the ring, a soft smile on her face, an odd gesture for the psychopathic girl. "Oh I'm engaged," she replied, her voice having the hilt of a light and happy tone. "I never told you?"

"Uh, no."

"I love him so much," she continued,still gazing down at her hand. "And of course he had to give me the best engagement ring he could. It's about five carats, you know. If we were on Earth this thing would be megally expensive."

Mel nodded feebly, her eyes bulging as the red diamond caught the light, although where the source was from, Mel had no idea. Her lamp had been switched off, but the room still remained very illuminated. "How did he actually get his hands on that ring?"

Maia raised her eyebrow, giving Mel an incredibly blank look. "He can afford it," she replied in a very simple way, as if the answer was incredibly obvious. Once again, her mood swapped, and she became little miss love struck again. "He treats me as if I was a Queen. It's odd, because people suspect him to be so cruel, evil, and a total bastard, etcetera. Okay, he may be that towards others, but never towards me. And I can deal with any egotistical moments, because I know who he is. But a man has never treated me that way, he is my everything."

"Man?" Mel asked, a puzzled look on her face. "Was that a choice of word, or what?" After the shock of the situation had eased, she had managed to actually compose herself to hold a conversation without stuttering half the time.

"Oh Mel, would you just keep up?" Maia stamped her foot in frustration, her eyes flashing a deep red colour as anger rose up inside of her. "Do you honestly not get who I am implying will be my future husband? He's going to marry me once I graduate from the demon school. I'm a student, he's an adult. I am just currently betrothed to him."

"I still don't get it," Mel shook her head. "I've never known a demon to be that psychopathic, and yet loyal and regal. Not unless we're talking about-" she stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening in horror. Maia couldn't be talking about him, could she? No. Maia wasn't anything special. She was the polar opposite, the yin to the yang, the other half of Melanie Beeby. And there was nothing really that wonderful about Mel, was there?

Maia read Mel's mind, giving a wicked smirk as she clapped her hands slowly. "Well done, angel girl. Took you, hmm, less than five minutes to work it out? Honestly, one girl at the Academy took a freaking half an hour. I was about ready to blast her one."

"You're lying," Mel gritted her teeth, almost accidentally biting on her lip. "You're not a demon goddess or whatever, you're just plain old Maia. What would he see in you?"

"According to my teachers, I'm gifted," Maia smiled proudly, fluffing out her hair and staring at her reflection in Mel's vanity mirror, which the table was to the left of Mel's bed. "I'm not entirely sure about you, but my side of the Universe they say I have a lot of power and potential. Plus when I had a dealing with him at the Opposition headquarters, he noticed how in love and infatuated I was. Well, really every girl, even some guys, are head over heels for him. But he said there was something so different about me. Something... perfect." She crossed her legs, which shaped her succubus like body even better. "The ideal he had for the future Queen of Darkness."

"I always wondered if you were for real." Mel's voice portrayed tiredness and exhaustion. The shock of the situation had taken a lot of energy out of her, but even so, being in the same room with an incredibly powerful demon was sucking most of her reserves out of her. "I always thought maybe there was actually some hope for you. That you didn't just deceive me into thinking that I could help you. That you could actually BE helped. But no. It seems not."

"Don't be playing another one of those mind games again, Beeby." Maia had an extremely warning tone to her words, as she sat up, more erect than before. "But in reply to your questions - did you ever even wonder in that tiny brain of yours it was all a facade? No, I didn't want help. I was sent to destroy you. SO your little venture of being miss grandiose angel failed, sweetie. And please don't judge my fiance before you meet him. Really, Lucifer is a wonderful man if you just get to know him."

Mel let out a loud laugh at this, purely surprised at how bimbo Maia had just sounded right then. "A wonderful man? Meet him? Are you just overdosed on Dark vibes, or have you literally just lost your mind? There is no way I am ever going to meet Lucifer, or find out what an amazing catch he is. A little four one one on the situation Maia, I am not a Hell vixen, you are. I love Michael, you love Lucifer. I love lilacs and pretty colours of Heavenly beaches, you love... whatever the fuck you have down there."

This time it was Maia's turn to let out a little giggle. Mel flinched at how alike it was to her own daffy laugh. "Oh Mel, you are just so naive to what I can now do." She lazily rested on the bed, eyeing her nails, as her eyes slowly changed from the normal pretty green hue, to a much darker blood red. Her true self. "Did I say anything about willingly?"

"Wha... are you going to KIDNAP me, or something?" Mel asked in a panicky voice. This slightly innocent on the exterior torture of Maia's was really now getting underneath her skin. She couldn't be serious, could she?

Maia looked up from her nails, giving Mel a long, pure evil gaze. The corners of her mouth turned up into a wicked grin as she got up from the bed, cocking her head to the side as she studied Mel's profile. "I think you'll be absolutely perfect," she muttered quietly to herself. She did a little flick of her hand, and instantly without warning, Mel's arms had been wrapped up in tight cosmic rope. "Once again, you got the correct answer. Ding, ding, ding! You won the million dollars, angel girl."

"Hey!" Mel exclaimed, fear rising in her throat and closing it off, so she could barely speak. She struggled in the binding cords, which had handcuffed her two wrists together, but to no avail. She was trapped - even Light vibes couldn't uncoil them from her skin. "What are you doing? Stop!"

"I'm never going to stop, darling. This has only just begun." She picked up the hell beast leash chain, yanking on it harshly to get the animal on it's feet, which it did with only a low grumble. Grabbing Mel's left arm and pulling her towards the door (despite all the kicking and protesting the angel girl could muster), they walked out into the black void, and got sucked into the world before them.


End file.
